EDITORIAL BY GRAYDON FOX

Overview:

On Saturday, November 3^rd, the (7-1) Oklahoma Sooners will be on the road to take on the (5-3) Texas Tech Red Raiders.

The Crowd:

The Crowd projects a final score of Oklahoma 42.6 – Texas Tech 29.2 with an over/under of 71.8.

Lou Holtz and Mark May:

Lou is predicting a final score of Oklahoma 47 – Texas Tech 21.

Mark is predicting a final score of Oklahoma 51 – Texas Tech 31.

2018-19 Statistics (130 total teams):

Passing offense: Texas Tech 376.8 YPG > Oklahoma 311.0 YPG

Rushing offense: Oklahoma 237.3 YPG > Texas Tech 151.5 YPG

Scoring offense: Oklahoma 48.9 PPG > Texas Tech 42.3 PPG

Scoring defense: Oklahoma 25.6 PPG > Texas Tech 28.1 PPG

Passing defense: Oklahoma 232.1 YPG > Texas Tech 283.4 YPG

Rushing defense: Texas Tech 140.4 YPG > Oklahoma 148.8 YPG

Turnover Margin Per Game: Oklahoma +0.1 > Texas Tech -0.6

Summary:

Oklahoma is (7-1) with wins over Florida Atlantic, UCLA, Iowa State, Army, Baylor, TCU, and Kansas State.  Their lone defeat was a 48-45 loss to #19 Texas.  Oklahoma throttled Kansas State last week 51-14 and outgained them 702-245 in total yardage.  The Sooners rank 4^th in points per game (48.9) and 62^nd in scoring defense (25.6 PPG).  Quarterback Kyler Murray certainly deserves Heisman consideration completing 73% of his passes for 2,329 yards with 28 touchdowns to 3 interceptions.  Murray is also the team’s second leading rusher with 474 yards and 6 touchdowns.  Running back Trey Sermon, filling in for the injured Rodney Anderson, has rushed for 516 yards and 5 touchdowns.  Oklahoma has two tremendous receivers in Marquise “Hollywood” Brown (738 yards, 7 touchdowns) and CeeDee Lamb (674 yards, 9 touchdowns).  The Sooners’ defense ranks 75^th against the pass (232.1 YPG) and 56^th against the run (148.8 YPG).

Texas Tech is (5-3) with victories over Lamar, Houston, #15 Oklahoma State, TCU, and Kansas.  They were defeated by Ole Miss, #12 West Virginia, and Iowa State.  In the 40-31 road loss to Iowa State last week, Texas Tech turned the ball over three times and their defense had no answer for the Cyclones.  The Red Raiders rank 10^th in points per game (42.3) and 70^th in scoring defense (28.1 PPG).  Quarterback Alan Bowman has completed 68% of his passes for 2,411 yards with 15 touchdowns to 7 interceptions.  Texas Tech employs a stable of running backs but the group is only averaging 3.8 yards per carry.  Antoine Wesley is the nation’s third leading receiver with 977 yards to go along with his 9 touchdowns.  Ja’Deion High (608 yards, 3 touchdowns) and T.J. Vasher (428 yards, 4 touchdowns) are certainly playmakers as well.  The Red Raiders’ defense ranks 118^th against the pass (283.4 YPG) and 42^nd against the run (140.4 YPG).  Texas Tech ranks 98^th out of 130 teams in turnover margin (-0.6).

Bottom Line:

This has all the makings of a classic Big-12 shootout with two of the nation’s top ten offenses facing off.  Kyler Murray should have no problem picking apart a dreadful Texas Tech secondary and his dual threat ability is a nightmare for any defensive coordinator.  Texas Tech’s air raid offense provides big plays but can be a double edge sword as they’ve also turned the ball over quite a bit.

Oklahoma wins 48-34

Contest Rules:

To be eligible to win a prize in any contest at The Crowd’s Line, you must be at least 18 years old and a resident of the United States or Canada. You must also submit your score prediction on our official prediction tool (blog widget), and include a valid email address. Contest winners are determined according to The Crowd’s Line scoring methodology. If more than one entrant has the same winning score, final contest rankings and prize winners are selected by random draw. Only one entry per person is allowed for each contest; multiple entries from a single player will be deemed invalid. There are no prize substitutions or exchanges available from The Crowd’s Line.

All prizes will be sent by e-mail within two weeks after the conclusion of each contest.